Sports BIT: British Open Preview & Blue Jays-Red Sox

On the Wednesday, July 19 Sports BIT show, Teddy Covers & Pauly Howard preview the 2017 British Open at Royal Birkdale in England. They also break down the Blue Jays-Red Sox game from Fenway, plus what MVP candidate Carlos Correa's injury means to the Houston Astros.

2017 British Open At Royal Birkdale

The British Open is the third major championship of the golf season and usually the most unpredictable of the four. Why? The weather in the United Kingdom in “summer.” It can be beautiful one minute and then raining sideways with 40 mpg wind gusts the next. This year’s Open Championship is the 146th and held at Royal Birkdale on England’s northwest coast. It’s the 10th time Royal Birkdale has hosted. Last was in 2008 when the weather was a major factor and Padraig Harrington won at 3 over par. That’s the last time the winner of the Claret Jug finished over par and the last time a golfer repeated in the tournament. Is history at Birkdale is any indication, the winner Sunday is likely to have won a major previously. However, the past seven major winners overall had never won one previously. It’s the second-longest streak since the Masters debuted in 1934. Some favorites this week who have yet to win a major include Rickie Fowler and Spain’s Jon Rahm. Americans Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth are the betting favorites. Both have won at least one major but never the British Open.

It’s game No. 3 of a four-game set between these AL East rivals at Fenway Park. Toronto’s Aaron Sanchez (1-2, 3.94) was an All-Star last year and one of the top pitchers in the American League but has made just seven starts in 2017 due to three trips to the DL because of finger/blister issues. He comes off arguably his best outing, allowing no earned runs and seven hits over six innings in a victory in Detroit. Sanchez tries for his fifth straight win against Boston dating back to 2015. It’s southpaw Drew Pomeranz (9-4, 3.75) for the Red Sox. He hasn’t personally lost since June 11. He beat the Jays in Toronto on July 2, allowing one run over six hits. Pomeranz doesn’t profile as a good fit at Fenway, though as a soft-throwing lefty – that makes it easier for right-handed hitters to pull balls over the Green Monster. His ERA at Fenway the past two years is 5.23.